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You can see the potential from the start. Go back and watch the music videos of a young Kendrick Lamar—before he dropped good kid, m.A.A.d city or even Section.80. Sometimes the videos were grainy, sometimes they were heavy handed, but you can see K.Dot trying to push the boundaries of what a rap music video should be. Sure, there were plenty of videos of him rapping on the block (or the side of a freeway.) But there were also videos where he played with narrative or experimented with perspective and camera shots.
Over the years, as Kendrick garnered more success and entered the running for greatest rapper of all time, the budgets and the ambition got bigger. Clearly inspired by visual masters like Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes, Kendrick, over the years, realized that every video should feel like a big budget event—with vivid, hyperspecific images and moments with the same theatrical flair his rapping often displays. And even if the details and scenes are vivid, how they all fit together in one tight narrative is often abstract.
Kendrick has released north of 40 music videos over the span of 15 years. He directed almost half, with the help of creative partner Dave Free. It started as an inside joke, with their partnership being titled “the little homies” at the beginning. That being said, it’s not really a joke anymore. Now it’s indisputable about what their partnership means: since launching pgLang in 2020, they go by their actual names, Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free, and they are the premier music video directors working in music right now.
On July 4th they released their latest video, a cinematic epic for the smash hit “Not Like Us.” It’s on track to be one of the most successful Kendrick Lamar videos of all time. It also mashes together all of the characteristics his videos have shown over the years: theatrics, inside references, cinematic segments, and impressionistic imagery juxtaposed with very literal shots.
The release of “Not Like Us” gave us the perfect time to look back at Kendrick’s history with visuals. Here are the 25 best Kendrick Lamar music videos of all time.
25. “i” (2014)
Directed by Alexandre Moors & the little homies
Leading a crowd out of a club and into the hood via conga-esque dance line, Kendrick Lamar spends the music video of “i” giddily hoping to convert a funk rave into real-life revolution. While many of Kendrick’s music videos are rooted in dark themes, “i” is hopeful. The rapper is chauffeured around by R&B legend Ronald Isley—impeccably dressed in a pimped out purple suit—as he bridges the gap between old-timers and youth, aiming to ignite what Funkadelic famously called “One Nation.”
The song is among To Pimp A Butterfly’s only smiles and the music video does a beautiful job of making communal dancing feel like a political act. —Thomas Hobbs
24. “Poetic Justice” ft. Drake (2013)
Directed by Dee.Jay.Dave, Dangerookipawaa, & the little homies
It’s only right that the video for “Poetic Justice,” which samples Janet Jackson’s “Any Time, Any Place,” looks like a scene from its John Singleton-directed movie inspiration. This is the first Kendrick video to be directed by “the little homies”—aka Dot and Dave—and the cinematic finesse is apparent. In this one, gunfire erupts and chaos unfolds on Crenshaw as a romance dies just as quickly as it begins. Slow motion shots and a convincing atmosphere convey the perilous nature of a world where fleeting romantic bliss coexists with hovering tragedies—a hard lesson courtesy of Kendrick Lamar’s “m.A.A.d city.”—Peter A. Berry
23. “LOVE.” ft. Zacari (2017)
Directed by Dave Meyers and the little homies
Raucous dinner table arguments, a solitary beach-side stroll and aluminum baddies? It’s a typically weird Kendrick setup, and it’s altogether pretty mesmerizing, with the poignant symbolism mirroring the multitudes that exist in any intense relationship.
The shots of Kendrick crouched down in front of the ocean make perfect scenery for meditation, with the vastness of the water evoking the elemental force of undying affection. “LOVE.” was the last video released from the DAMN. era, so it kinda got lost in the mix. But this is a visual with a lot to love. —Peter A. Berry
22. “God is Gangsta” (2016)
Directed by Jack Begert & the little homies
This seven minute short film, which combines “u” and "For Sale? (Interlude)," nails the surrealist spiritual jazz tone of the To Pimp A Butterfly. Kendrick begins by experiencing ego death while screaming into a mirror and constantly pricking his fingers on a table that turns into a puddle. There’s a lunacy in his eyes, things feel acid-baked, hinting that the video’s villainous Lucy is both a metaphor for an alluring devil and a bad trip on LSD. This might be Kendrick’s best performance as an actor, too, with the booze-induced psychosis he goes through feeling like a scene out of Apocalypse Now. —Thomas Hobbs
21. “The Hillbillies” ft. Baby Keem (2023)
Directed by Neal Farmer
“The Hillbillies” is the millennial version of Around the World in Eighty Days, with cousins Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem floating around the globe as a part of The Big Steppers tour—Martine Rose clothing and earnest expressions in tow.
For “The Hillbillies,” the thought-provoking nature of many of Kendrick’s videos are traded in for something a bit more… unserious. He’s smiling, putting in work on a PS5, hitting various two-steps, and kicking it with Tyler, the Creator, who is dangling thousands of dollars’ worth of chains in front of a fisheye lens.
Who said hillbillies can’t be high rollers? —Brooklyn White-Grier
20. “Hiiipower” (2011)
Directed by Fredo Tovar & Scott Fleishman for AplusFilmz.
This best video from the Section.80 era begins with a pre-cursor explanation about why he wrote the album and what’s coming next. “The very next scene is a visual of me with the eyes of a six-year-old… an infant looking for answers,” he writes.
The intensity of the video very much matches that energy. We get snippets from a range of historical moments—meetings with Malcolm X, the aftermath of a self-immolation protest in Tunisia, and footage of Martin Luther King delivering his “I Have a Dream” speech flash on the screen amidst the camera capturing Lamar rapping in an empty exposed brick studio. Alori Joh, who would tragically take her own life shortly after the video released, appears to sing her section of the song.
The abstractness and blend of the historical with contemporary foreshadows what will come. On later videos, Lamar was able to display this dichotomy with more resources at his disposal. —Miki Hellerbach
19. “Look Out for Detox” (2010)
Directed by Fredo Tovar & Scott Fleishman for AplusFilmz.
“Look Out For Detox” isn’t so much about layered story or ambitious birds eye view tracking shots. Instead, it’s just Kendrick in a foggy room, rapping like his life depends on it. The camera moves in a spiral, giving the feeling that Kendrick’s flow is an encircling tornado, and the combination of red and light blue colors is a smartly subtle visual reminder of the tribalism underpinning his hometown’s gang politics. Although the budget for this video seems to have been fairly small, the lead artist has a star quality that bleeds through every frame.
This is a music video that nails the back-to-the-wall rawness of K.Dot in the early 2010s, a time where Dr. Dre wasn't on speed dial. —Thomas Hobbs
18. “We Cry Together” ft. Taylour Paige (2022)
Directed by Jake Schreier, Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar
The “We Cry Together” short film stretches the bounds of music videos—even if it’s uncomfortable as hell to watch. Here, Kendrick trades insults, expletives, and other verbal haymakers with Zola actress Taylour Paige, depicting an explosive lover’s quarrel that makes Baby Boy’s Jody and Yvette seem like #relationshipgoals. But the visual treatment plays like performance art. All of that toxicity is captured in one shot, the live, re-recorded vocals and adlibs making each emotion-rich moment feel real. These two colliding stars are a trainwreck, and you just can’t look away. —John Kennedy
17. “For Free?” (2015)
Directed by Joe Weil & the little homies
Perhaps the most underappreciated video in Kendrick’s catalog is for a short interlude from To Pimp a Butterfly. “For Free?” is a slightly absurdist metaphorical masterpiece that seems like it came from the mind of one of the modern prominent Mexican directors like Alejandro González Iñárritu or Guillermo Del Toro. A disturbed Lamar follows his lover around a southern-looking mansion tormenting her with reminders of the value of his genitalia. The visual also features jazz artist and California native Terrace Martin emerging from a window playing sax, and Lamar in an Uncle Sam costume. He visually emphasizes that his partner cannot just use him for his goods and that a tax will be applied. —Miki Hellerbach
16. “LOYALTY.” ft. Rihanna (2017)
Directed by Dave Meyers & the little homies
Elusive R&B chanteuse Rihanna popped out for not just the single, but the video as well. Alongside Kendrick, she starred in a surreal cautionary tale about the dark side of being loyal to the soil.
The term “toxicity” took over social media in the 2010s—it was Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year in 2018. So it was only natural that it be crystalized in a major pop culture moment, further ensuring it would define the decade. In “LOYALTY.,” Rihanna’s character spits gum at a stranger, Kendrick’s masculinity-drenched concept of fealty presses him to defend her, even when she couldn’t be more out of pocket.
He later says, “Trust me,” as he dangles her off of the side of a building. They grin at each other, completely enraptured and either unaware of or unfazed by the dangers that lurk in the Gotham-esque city. The two are literally willing to go under, just as long as they’re together. It’s a ride or die scenario that can teach us a thing or two about who, and what, is worthy of unwavering support. —Brooklyn White-Grier
15. “All the Stars” ft. SZA (2018)
Directed by Dave Meyers and the little homies
The first single from Black Panther: The Album indulges in the beauty of African fashion, dance, and cityscapes. There are kufis and shanties and women in feathered garb and men in colorful suits and a few panthers for good measure. Yet for all of the gorgeous sights, there was some controversy. British-Liberian visual artist Lina Iris Viktor sued Kendrick and SZA for allegedly incorporating copies of her “Constellations” series into the video without permission. (They settled out of court.) Still, “All the Stars” is a dazzling display of Afrofuturist aesthetics that’s worthy of a Wakandan salute. —John Kennedy
14. “These Walls” ft. Bilal, Anna Wise, & Thundercat (2015)
Directed by Colin Tilley and the little homies
To Pimp a Butterfly is a heavy album. So you likely didn’t expect to watch the last video from the album, “These Walls,” and see Cornrow Kenny hit the Quan with Terry Crews and slow grind against a house party wall so intensely that he falls clean through the damn thing like the Kool-Aid Man.
Yet both scenes—along with narration by comedy vet Corey Holcomb—inject the perfect dose of levity into the visual for a song that’s equal parts horndog groove and revenge fantasy. If these walls could talk, they’d probably be laughing their asses off.—John Kennedy
13. “Swimming Pools” (2012)
Directed by Jerome D
Despite being a crossover hit off of his classic studio debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, the music video for “Swimming Pools” is somber in tone and suggests an artist not so much toasting to mainstream success but rather dreading all the dark temptations it will conjure up. Beginning with Kendrick falling into the abyss in a shot that surely must have been an inspiration for director Jordan Peele while conceptualizing Get Out’s “sunken place” sequences, the video for “Swimming Pools” is filled with smashed-up bottles of whiskey, slow motion dances that feel more like the Grim Reaper lumbering towards a victim, and nightclubs that have a devilish blood red glow.
Visually this is a dark trip: proof from the outset of how Kendrick’s goal is always to take conventional rap video imagery and flip it on its axis, revealing cautionary tales and hidden traumas. —Thomas Hobbs
12. “Rich Spirit” (2022)
Directed by Calmatic
“Rich Spirit” is more subdued than most of Kendrick’s recent videos, but it’s no less compelling. For this one, he turns full-on interpretive dancer, which only makes sense for a song about his perpetual two-step with the devil. His twitchy movements give the impression of someone having a conversation with themselves. His manic motions make his less animated moments hit even harder, as nothing says “despondency and isolation” like sitting atop your luxury dinner table eating cereal out of a teacup in complete darkness. —Peter A. Berry
11. “King Kunta” (2015)
Directed by Director X
Questioning Kendrick’s devotion to Compton is unwise. Not only has the minted West Coast king proudly repped his community in his music and life, and poured money into local charities and music programs, he documented it years ago with “King Kunta,” which, in many ways, is a direct predecessor to “Not Like Us.”
The video shares many of the charastics: it takes place in Compton, with neighborhood locals and monuments featured prominently. At one point we see Kendrick on the throne. He’s comfortable—the symbolic heir apparent to Kunta Kinte of Roots, predicting his epic battle for the crown with Drake. —Brooklyn White-Grier
10. “N95” (2022)
Directed by Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar
Religious imagery can be a landmine for cliches, but with “N95,” Kendrick distills Jesus Christ-like visuals with surrealistic flair that’s both original and engrossing. It helps that he juxtaposes it with seriously contrasting images. Bearing an expressionless face and limp arms and legs, he emits mysterious, messianic grace levitating above the midnight blue ocean.
Performing a classic jail workout atop a roof, he morphs into K.Dot Tyson, flaunting a mischievous, gold-toothed grin while hoisting a pigeon. The next thing you know, he’s running from a small mob. The shots here are as sprawling and kinetic as the song itself—a visceral symbiosis rendered through an all-time great rap auteur. —Peter A. Berry
9. “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” (2013)
Directed by the lil homie & OG Mike Mihail
Grief is a rough road. You’d much rather be doing anything other than feeling the weight of a loss. That’s a theme Kendrick explores in a limousine during a funeral procession—he briefly falls asleep and dreams of his friends sharing the luxury vehicle with him as they laugh, sip and catch a vibe. When he wakes, though, he’s alone and still in line for the burial grounds. Sometimes you have to sit to sit with the longing, even when it’d be easier to commune.
Solitude is a cornerstone of Kendrick’s music and apparently, his personality. “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” is a powerful music video. Among the video’s focal points of grief and the larger, and the more obvious topic of death/killing of the vibe, the rapper is alone in an expanse of dying grass. Maybe that, along with a jokey-joke from Mike Epps, is the only way to make it through. —Brooklyn White-Grier
8. “Count Me Out” (2022)
Directed by Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar
For an album centered around Kendrick Lamar’s therapy journey, this is the only video that actually features him in a session. His therapist is actress Helen Mirren. Their black and white session together merges into the video in color on the heels of Mirren’s question, “You texted me at 2AM “I feel like I’m falling,” why do you feel that way?” Kendrick responds with the word “life.”
Much of the rest of the video is a split screen of the black-and-white session and a barrage of images in color. Interestingly, the colored images seem to represent him sorting through a mixture of symbolic dreams as well as difficult memories in his mind. The video does a remarkable job of showing the troubled yet prodigal mind that Kendrick had to sort through in order to make a necessary peace with his past. As with many of Kendrick’s best videos, “Count Me Out” takes the interpretive road to finding the universal specificity of the human condition. It’s as artful a display of the therapeutic process as you’ll see. —Miki Hellerbach
7. “Kings Dead” Feat. Jay Rock, Future, & James Blake (2018)
Directed by Dave Free of the little homies & Jack Begert
For this list, we wanted to focus on Kendrick’s videos—not ones he was just featured on. However, there was one exception: “Kings Dead,” which is technically a Jay Rock song but was featured prominently on the Black Panther: The Album, a soundtrack conceptualized and spearheaded by Kendrick.
There’s a beautiful asymmetry at work with “King’s Dead.” Here, each shot is worthy of a magazine spread, and it leaves you with just enough time to ponder its meaning before flipping to another. Why are Kendrick and Jay Rock decked out in business suits but Future isn’t? What’s with the VHS filter? What’s Kendrick doing posted up in a palm tree with elote? Who knows, exactly. There’s some visceral, symbolic power here; on a track called “King’s Dead,” a chair in a Wall Street office becomes a throne, and the tie wrapped around K.Dot’s head becomes a perfectly idiosyncratic crown.—Peter A. Berry
6. “The Heart Part 5” (2022)
Directed by Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar
Years before Drake weaponized the likenesses of California rap icons for trolling purposes, K.Dot employed artificial intelligence with more honorable intentions. “The Heart Part 5” is more sparse than Kendrick’s usual videos—he appears in front of a maroon backdrop, sporting a white T-shirt and bandana, jerkily dancing in place before a stationary camera. But things get trippy once the Compton MC starts changing faces like a throwback R&B duo.
There’s nothing fake deep about these deepfakes, though. What could’ve played out like a cheap party trick instead intensifies his lyrics; allusions to O.J. Simpson, Will Smith, ‘Ye, Jussie Smollett, and Kobe Bryant all take on new life when it appears as if each respective cultural figure is rapping them. The crescendo arrives in the final verse, when Kendrick shapeshifts into slain peer Nipsey Hussle, delivering a heartfelt soliloquy from his perspective. It’s a beautiful tribute to a beloved legend. —John Kennedy
5. “DNA.” (2017)
Directed by Nabil & the little homies
The Y2K era’s quintessential buddy cop film Rush Hour 2 featured Don Cheadle as a martial artist with one foot in the restaurant business and the other in a gambling ring. This character birthed Kung Fu Kenny, Kendrick Lamar’s persona first mentioned on DAMN. The influence of Cheadle’s character, and the reverence for martial arts, runs deep.
In a reversal from the movie, Cheadle is now the eager cop and Lamar is in the hot seat. In the “DNA.” video they take turns rapping electric verses—you can tell the Oscar-nominated actor is having a blast—a play on them sharing the same genetic makeup. The beat on “DNA.” famously switches, Kendrick gives himself his flowers, and for a split-second, shows off his bevy of Grammys, because hey, a small flex here and there is a part of his code, too. —Brooklyn White-Grier
4. “Alright” (2015)
Directed by Colin Tilley and the little homies
In the driver’s seat, Kendrick Lamar raps an unreleased verse that now lives in infamy. As Lamar finishes up spitting the braggadocio-filled bars, the camera zooms out to reveal policemen carrying the hooptie on their shoulders mimicking pallbearers carrying a coffin. This all happens before the official song starts.
This scene exemplifies the artistic fortitude with which one of Kendrick’s greatest visuals captured a moment in time. The release of To Pimp A Butterfly in 2015 marked a time of intense civil unrest due to the nationally publicized police killings of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice. Showing black comradery and artistry, whilst slowly unveiling the undercurrent threat of state sanctioned violence, proved Lamar’s deft creative hand in displaying cultural and societal sentiment.
The video, like the song, hinges on a glass-half-full mentality driven by faith. As Kendrick and others navigate the gloomy gray town where the video is shot, it seems like threats of police violence are around every corner. Yet you can see Kendrick levitating (literally floating above the bullsh*t), stomping on piles of money with his crew, and even egging on the youth dancing on a cop car. This relentless joy catapulted all the way to the marches of 2020 where “Alright” became one of the songs of the movement.—Miki Hellerbach
3. “Not Like Us” (2024)
Directed by Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar
When Kendrick Lamar was a small child, he watched in awe as 2Pac and Dr. Dre rode through Compton in their low-riders and Mercedes-Benz drop-tops while filming the care-free music video for “California Love Remix.” It was a moment that re-energised the whole community, giving the young spitter a glimpse into that rare stardust 1990s rap superstars tended to carry with them. “Not Like Us” taps right back into that magic, as Kendrick goes back home to be held up like a resurrected messiah by pop-locking teenagers, a bunch of rappers (All the members of Black Hippie, YG, Jay Worthy, and more), some local eccentrics (Tommy the Clown), and half of L.A.’s blood gang sets.
Everyone has united to dance on Drake’s grave, with the music video for the unavoidable 6 God diss track, “Not Like Us,” aligning community spirit and nostalgia with victorious imagery and vicious easter eggs. The music video solidifies the brilliance of a diss song that isn’t just the lethal equal to Pac’s “Hit Em Up,” but has also made the West Coast stick its chest out again. One can only hope there was a small kid somewhere in the crowd for the “Not Like Us” shoot, having their mind blown.—Thomas Hobbs
2. “Humble” (2017)
Directed by Dave Meyers & the little homies
K.Dot’s left stroke ain’t the only thing that went viral. You remember when the visuals for “Humble” (now creeping dangerously close to 1 billion YouTube plays) first flooded your social media timelines. There were looks upon looks: Kendrick’s plaited hair set ablaze; golfing in the Los Angeles River; the pope cloak; rhyming amidst a sea of bobbing Black baldies; a nod to a classic condiment commercial.
“Humble” is Kendrick’s Big Music Video, a three-minute short that coincided with his elevation to a new echelon of stardom. And it’s hella fun. When it’s all said and done, “Humble” will be the clip that best showcases Kendrick Lamar’s colorful imagination and boundless artistry. That’s something to be proud of. —John Kennedy
1. “ELEMENT.” (2017)
Directed by Jonas Lindstroem & the little homies
Photographer Gordon Parks has his work referenced throughout “ELEMENT.,” Kendrick Lamar’s greatest music video to date. Parks’ photograph “Boy With Junebug” (1963) is placed expertly amidst moving images of gloom and despair. The striking portrait displays a young boy holding an insect by a string as it lays on his forehead. Nearby images on screen of a house burning down and Lamar himself rapping in a bloodstained shirt make this portrayal of childlike wonder emerge as a necessary moment of mindful peace.
The video also has a throughline of cause and effect. You see a child wandering around an empty home followed by Lamar mobbing with comrades, a father teaching his son how to fight (reference to Parks’ 1966 portrait of Muhammad Ali) followed by Lamar beating someone’s face in, and even a child holding a toy gun (reference to Parks’ “Untitled” from 1956) followed by an adult man bloodied in the street. The video chronicles a complicated necessity for resilience within the black American experience. Watching it feels like you are being taken through a multi-disciplinary museum exhibit with equal parts celebration and critique.
On “Ab-Soul’s Outro” in 2011, Kendrick proclaimed “I’m not on the outside looking in, I'm not on the inside looking out, I'm in the dead f*cking center looking around.” No music video in his catalog represents that purview and expressionist mission statement more than “Element.” He is the centerpiece of a kaleidoscopic collage of perseverance and does his damnedest to “make it look sexy.”—Miki Hellerbach
